Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora has accused Israel of a "naked violation" of the five-day-old ceasefire, after a raid by Israeli commandos deep inside Lebanon. The raid, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, left one Israeli dead and two injured. Israel said it was trying to disrupt the movement of weapons from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the ceasefire was still intact. The operation came hours after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned of a "fragile" situation on the ground. The Israeli raid centred on the village of Bodai, west of the city of Baalbek, some 100km (60 miles) north of the Israeli border. It is the first incident of its kind since the ceasefire came into effect. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

It was intended to be a prank: steal a decoy deer, place it on a country road and watch as motorists swerved to avoid it. It ended with two teenagers suffering serious injuries when their car hit the decoy and rolled into a ditch. When a judge ruled this week that two boys both high school football players can complete the football season before they serve 60-day sentences at a juvenile detention center, it caused a division in this northwest Ohio city. On one side are those who say allowing Dailyn Campbell, a 16-year-old quarterback, and 17-year-old teammate Jesse Howard to play shows that football players get preferential treatment.On the other are those who say either the boys deserve another chance or that they will stay out of trouble if they're part of the team. "I've never seen anything that has been so much an issue in the community," ...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,209452,00.html

Four foreign soldiers and two Afghan security force members were killed Saturday as Afghanistan celebrated its Independence Day amid the bloodiest phase of a Taliban insurgency.Three soldiers with the U.S.-led coalition that is hunting down Taliban and other rebels were killed in the eastern province of Kunar, a coalition spokesman said.He was not able to immediately provide details of the incident in a known Taliban stronghold or the nationalities of the soldiers. Most coalition personnel are from the United States.A soldier with NATO's International Security Assistance Force, known as ISAF, and an Afghan troop were meanwhile killed in a separate clash in the southern province of Uruzgan, a spokesman said.Three other ISAF soldiers were wounded in the fierce battle that erupted after they came across a "large Taliban force," ISAF spokesman Major Scott Lundy said....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-08-19-afghanistan_x.htm?csp=34

The Marine officer in charge of troops suspected of killing 24 Iraqi men, women and children told investigators he did not initiate an inquiry into the carnage because he did not consider the deaths unusual, The Washington Post reported Saturday. In a sworn statement given to military investigators in March, Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani said: "I thought it was very sad, very unfortunate, but at the time, I did not suspect any wrongdoing from my Marines." Chessani was commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Marines. "I did not have any reason to believe that this was anything other than combat action," he added. The Post said it obtained a copy of Chessani's statement. Reached by telephone late Friday, Marine Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a spokesman on the Haditha case, said he had not seen the report and could not comment. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml?source=RSS&attr=World_541815

A man was arrested in the killing of a retired schoolteacher whose dismembered body was found in his Long Island home and whose severed head was discovered in the trunk of his car, police said.Evan Marshall, 30, of Glen Cove, New York, was expected to be arraigned Saturday on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of his neighbor Denice Fox, said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Dennis Farrell.Fox, 57, was slain Thursday in her home in a gated community in Glen Cove, located about 20 miles east of New York City, Farrell said. Two "rather large" carving knives were recovered, he said. He declined to discuss any possible motive.Police received a call around 4:30 p.m. Thursday from Fox's daughter, alerting them that her mother was missing. The daughter described "a great deal of blood" on the vestibule floor and told officers a back window of the home had been broken out....http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/19/teacher.killed.ap/index.html?section=cnn_us

Bush said Saturday that his administration’s determination to remain in Iraq and its efforts to end violence in Lebanon are key to protecting the U.S. from future terrorist attacks. Democrats countered that Americans will be safer if the nation begins a phased pullout of U.S. forces from Iraq. “It is no coincidence that two nations that are building free societies in the heart of the Middle East — Lebanon and Iraq — are also the scenes of the most violent terrorist activity,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “We will defeat the terrorists by strengthening young democracies across the broader Middle East.” He acknowledged that “the way forward will be difficult.” But, the president said, “America’s security depends on liberty’s advance in this troubled region.” All those who believe this dribble, call me, I have a great deal for you on a Bridge...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14425130/